Holiday Gift Ideas for Guys Who Love to Cook (That They Actually Want)

Home cook extraordinaire Lang Whitaker offers a few practical gifts for the kitchen.

My Christmas list is irrelevant. My friends and family know that I’m into cooking, so no matter what I request, I am instead gifted every kitchen tool imaginable. Whether I want them or not.

Some of them look cool, but in the kitchen I am mostly result-oriented. As a dedicated home cook, I enjoy learning new recipes and techniques. But with limited space in my kitchen, I’m getting rid of that olive de-pitter my in-laws gave me and instead will just use a knife the one time a year I need to pit six olives.

There are plenty of kitchen tools every home cook can use. But before we get to things you need, here are some things you should not give a home cook as a gift:

Do Not Give These Things!

Apron. Professional chefs spend all day in the kitchen, so wearing an apron makes sense as a way to keep (mostly) clean. At the end of a long day, when I go in to fix dinner, I’m gonna spend maybe half an hour in the kitchen and I just want to get to work. So even though I own a pretty dope apron, it rarely gets used.

Mortar and pestle. I somehow own two mortar and pestle sets. About once a year, I’ll use one to grind a teaspoon of cumin seeds. The rest of the year they just sit there making me look like an old-timey pharmacist.

Spiralizer. My son loves sushi and the accompanying spiral-cut carrots and radishes, so I went out and bought a spiralizer. As it turns out, my kid also eats carrots and radishes that I cut with a knife, which is way faster and easier!

Oven mitt. How do you get hot things out of the oven? Not with those bulky gloves you have to dig out and then use for three seconds. Instead, use a kitchen towel, which also multitasks as many other things. (But whatever you do, don’t use a wet towel to touch something hot. That’s a lesson you will only need to learn once.)

__Salad dressing maker.__Hey look, here’s a product that you can use to emulsify salad dressing when you make it at home! Or if you don’t want to drop $20 on this thing, you can use a fork.

Okay! Now that that's out of the way...

Eleven Great Presents for the Home Cook

Sonos. This isn’t exactly a kitchen tool, but since I installed Sonos all over my apartment a few years ago, it’s been a life-changer. Listening to music and podcasts makes spending chunks of time in my kitchen way more inviting than it would be if I worked in silence.

A good knife. Da gawd Jacques Pepin always says, “The greatest pleasure of cooking is a sharp knife.” He’s right. While I own a bunch of knives that hold steady on my kitchen counter in an aesthetically pleasing wooden block, I mostly use the same knife over and over and over. If you don’t want to drop serious cash on sharpened steel, this Victorinox arrives sharp enough to slice your finger directly out of the package, yet is cheap enough to replace a couple of times a year.

Tongs. A big bad set of tongs will be your best friend in the kitchen. I use these every time I make a meal. Because these OXO tongs have plastic tips, you can stir and scrape without worrying about damaging your pans. Also, get at least one long-ish pair, so you can handle hot food without having to worry about burning yourself.

One great nonstick sautée pan. Restaurant chefs famously avoid non-stick sautée pans, for many reasons. So it was a little surprising when, of all people, Emeril Lagasse admitted to us that he cooks a lot at home using non-stick cookware. I use one non-stick pan, in particular, almost every night, to do anything from cooking meat, roasting vegetables, simmering risotto, and so on. You should own one go-to pan. (Oh, and get one with a metal handle, so you can throw it in a hot oven without worrying about melting any plastic/rubber melting.)

Kitchen towels. While I rarely rock an apron, I do regularly use kitchen towels to do everything to wiping up small spills to handling hot pans to drying my hands after washing. These are cheap enough that you can order a couple dozen and be set for years.

A pepper mill. When I first started cooking, I bought a squeezable pepper mill that looked cool and seemed like it would be fun to use. The problem was it didn’t really work all that well. There are a lot of gimmicky pepper grinders out there, including some that are battery powered. Instead, go old school. Get a big ol’ pepper mill, which will grind to different sizes and last forever, and will sit there on your counter looking like a gigantic chess piece.

Plastic cutting boards. I’ve had two wood cutting boards that warped and broke (we now use one to serve cheese on), and I finally decided enough was enough. If I had more space, I’d love to have a big wooden chopping block. Instead, four years ago I got three plastic cutting boards from Ikea, and I still use them today. Cut your food and then throw them in the dishwasher. Done.

Storage. For years I dealt with an avalanche of different sized Tupperware containers and leftover delivery bowls all thrown into a cabinet. But since chefs have started coming to my house to cook stuff for GQ, I’ve learned that the storage unit of choice seems to be these 32 oz. plastic containers. I’ve accumulated a dozen of them the last few months, and they’re the perfect size to save basically anything. Plus you can microwave them or throw them in a dishwasher with no worries.

Pizza stone. This item is a bit of a luxury, but since learning how to make great pizza at home a few months back, we make our own about once a week. And it’s genuinely better than delivery! But the one necessity is that you need a pizza stone to give you that crisp, evenly baked crust. (For you space-savers, you can leave it in the bottom of the oven when you’re not making pizza.)

Thermapen. For years I used an array of analog thermometers with those big dials that were about as accurate as Brock Osweiler. Then I bought a Javelin instant-read thermometer, and I haven’t worried about under- or overcooking food since.

Fish spatula. My fish spatula somehow disappeared from kitchen a few weeks ago—my four-year-old is a prime suspect—and I’ve been messed up ever since. Yes, it’s called a fish spatula, but I use it constantly because it gives you a great degree of control and flexibility when flipping pancakes or eggs or, well, basically anything that needs flipping.

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